• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.4027-4034
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• 2011

$CaCO_3$ crystalline structures having novel assemblies were in situ fabricated as analogs of naturally occurring proteins and polysaccharides for biomineralization. The calcite crystal was mineralized in a poly(vinyl alcohol)-$Ca^{2+}$ complex film immersed in a $Na_2CO_3$ solution containing poly(aspartic acid). The morphology and size of the $CaCO_3$ crystals were tuned by varying the concentration of poly(aspartic acid). The mechanisms of their nucleation orientation and formation were investigated experimentally and through molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in order to obtain a better understanding of the interactions between the polymers and the crystal at the molecular level. Both the MD results and experimental results indicate that the interaction between PVA and calcite mainly depends on the concentration of the polymer. The novel approach proposed herein for the fabrication of inorganic crystalline assembly structures can be used to fabricate precise crystalline structures.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.1485-1490
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• 2008

Dumbbell-shaped aromatic amphiphilic molecules consisting of a dodeca-p-phenylene as a rigid segment and oligoether dendrons as a flexible chains were synthesized, characterized, and their aggregation behavior was investigated in the bulk and at the air-water interface. In contrast to the molecule 2 which shows a nematic liquid crystalline state, molecule 1 based on shorter dendritic chains was observed to self-assemble into a 3-D primitive orthorhombic supercrystal. And molecule 1 at the air-water interface was observed to reorganize from circular plates to ring structures by lateral compressions.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.228-228
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• 2006

Conjugated oligomers, used as models for fluorene-thiophene copolymers, are compared in terms of the microscopic morphology of thin deposits and the optical properties. The AFM images and the solid-state absorption and emission spectra are interpreted in line with the structural data, in terms of the assembly of the conjugated molecules. The compound with a terthiophene central unit and fluorene end-groups shows well-defined monolayer-by-monolayer assembly into micrometer-long strip-like structures, with a crystalline herringbone-type organization within the monolayers. Polarized confocal microscopy indicates a strong orientation of the crystalline domains within the stripes. In contrast, the compound with a terfluorene central unit and thiophene end groups forms no textured aggregates. The difference in behavior between the two compounds most probably originates from their different capability of forming densely-packed assemblies of ${\pi-pi}$ interacting molecules. These assemblies are used as active elements in organic field effect transistors designed by using soft lithography technique.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.72-72
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• 2011

Recently, Zinc oxide (ZnO) nano-structures have been received attractive attention because of their outstanding optical and electrical properties. It might be a promising material considered for applications to photonic and electronic devices such as ultraviolet light emitting diode, thin film transistor, and gas sensors. ZnO nano-structures can be typically synthesized by the VLS growth mode and self-assembly. In the VLS growth mode using various growth techniques, the noble metal catalysts such as Au and Sn were used. However, the growth of ZnO nano-structures on nano-crystalline Au seeds using radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering might be explained by the profile coating, i.e. the ZnO nano-structures were a morphological replica of Au seeds. Ga doped ZnO (ZnO:Ga) nano-structures using this concept were synthesized and characterized by XRD, AFM, SEM, and TEM. We found that surface morphology is drastically changed from initial islands to later sun-flower typed nano-structures. We will present the structural evolution of ZnO:Ga nano-structures with increasing the film thickness.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.17-37
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• 2011

The microcantilever (MCL) sensor is one of the most promising platforms for next-generation label-free biosensing applications. It outperforms conventional label-free detection methods in terms of portability and parallelization. In this paper, an overview of recent advances in our understanding of the coupling between biomolecular interactions and MCL responses is given. A dual compact optical MCL sensing platform was built to enable biosensing experiments both in gas-phase environments and in solutions. The thermal bimorph effect was found to be an effective nanomanipulator for the MCL platform calibration. The study of the alkanethiol self-assembly monolayer (SAM) chain length effect revealed that 1-octanethiol ($C_8H_{17}SH$) induced a larger deflection than that from 1-dodecanethiol ($C_{12}H_{25}SH$) in solutions. Using the clinically relevant biomarker C-reactive protein (CRP), we revealed that the analytical sensitivity of the MCL reached a diagnostic level of $1{\sim}500{\mu}g/ml$ within a 7% coefficient of variation. Using grazing incident x-ray diffractometer (GIXRD) analysis, we found that the gold surface was dominated by the (111) crystalline plane. Moreover, using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis, we confirmed that the Au-S covalent bonds occurred in SAM adsorption whereas CRP molecular bindings occurred in protein analysis. First principles density functional theory (DFT) simulations were also used to examine biomolecular adsorption mechanisms. Multiscale modeling was then developed to connect the interactions at the molecular level with the MCL mechanical response. The alkanethiol SAM chain length effect in air was successfully predicted using the multiscale scheme.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.65-73
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• 2022

The proper estimation of physical and chemical properties of Earth materials and their structures at high pressure and high temperature conditions is key to the full understanding of diverse geological processes in Earth and planetary interiors. Multi-anvil press - high-pressure generating device - provides unique information of Earth materials under compression, mainly relevant to Earth's upper mantle. The quantitative estimation of the relationship between the oil load within press and the actual pressure conditions within the sample needs to be established to infer the planetary processes. Such pressure-load calibration has often been based on the phase transitions of crystalline earth materials with known pressure conditions; however, unlike at high temperature conditions, phase transitions at low (or room) temperatures can be sluggish, making the calibration at such conditions challenging. In this study, we explored the changes in Al coordination environments of permanently densified pyrope glasses upon the cold compression using the high-resolution ²⁷Al MAS and 3QMAS NMR. The fractions of highly coordinated Al in the cold compressed pyrope glasses increase with increasing oil load and thus, the peak pressure condition. Based on known relationship between the peak pressure and the Al coordination environment in the compressed pyrope glasses at room temperature, we established a room temperature pressure-load calibration of the 14/8 HT assembly in 1,100-ton multi-anvil press. The current results highlight the first pressure-load calibration of any high pressure device using high-resolution NMR. Irreversible structural densification upon cold compression observed for the pyrope glasses provides insights into the deformation and densification mechanisms of amorphous earth materials at low temperature and high pressure conditions within the subducting slabs.